31 days of DJWifi
by 3laxx
Summary: December is here and with it, the wonderful ship DJWifi gets 31 prompts for each day!
1. Day 1: Heroes

**I'm gonna participate and I'll try to get something done for each day!**

* * *

A green flash enveloped Nino, not a moment too late before the bus crashed into him.

Rena held her breath as a crash sounded, like metal on metal, and the bus slithered to a halt, just a meter before the edge of the dockside that led down to the Seine.

Her boyfriend, now clad in his green suit with yellow, protective chest plates, stepped out in front of the bus, unharmed and his shield raised. With a powerful rip he opened the doors and checked if anyone was still in here. When he didn't seem to find anyone, he showed her a thumb up, before breathing through for a moment.

With a relieved sigh she went back to focus on the fight, her chest tight.

This Akuma had been a tough one already, they'd proved it the entire afternoon. Ladybug had summoned both Carapace as well as Rena Rouge to help them out and it had turned out to be just the right decision. They even promised to let them keep their Miraculous for longer now.

They had all transformed and detransformed a few times by now, always recharging their Kwamis for a minute before surging back into the fight. Nino had taken a hit before that and had unfortunately detransformed in the middle of the battle.

Wayzz did barely have any time to swallow a few sunflower seeds before Rena's warning call had reached Nino, right as the Akuma had sent the bus down the street towards him.

Her breath came out in white clouds as she charged at the Akuma while Ladybug had been flung away once again, her aching lungs bringing out a war cry. She raised her fist as Chat opened up, and she managed to slam the weapon out of the Akuma's hands.

That wasn't, where the Akuma was, unfortunately, but it would give Chat an opportunity to snatch away their belt where they kept their explosives.

Some kid had lost a Snowball fight with the last bit of snow that wasn't melted yet. He had apparently been grabbed by another kid and they had rubbed snow in his face.

Rena could understand why the young boy had gotten upset, especially since his glasses, the akumatized object, had been broken during this process.

What really bothered her was that Hawkmoth didn't even stop and think before akumatizing an innocent child.

With his belt and weapon now gone, the Akuma snarled and turned, building up a giant ice wall with spikes between him and the heroes. Chat immediately launched over it, his animalistic pupils narrowed in a predatory way, but Rena turned and threw a glance over her shoulder to check on her boyfriend.

He just straightened up and showed her another thumb up before falling into a light jog, catching up to her.

"Hey…", he greeted, still slightly out of breath.

"Hi. Bad traffic today?", she shot back, immediately letting her animalistic instincts take over as she briefly nuzzled her nose on his neck. Nino merely just wrapped an arm around her waist, showing her he acknowledged her affections, but his mind was in the battle field as he looked up the wall of ice and then over to the houses.

"Hah hah, very funny. You okay?"

"I'm fine. How are you after that impact?"

He just growled and pressed a kiss to her forehead before tightening his hold on her and jumping onto the next house, to break into a run. She easily held his speed and watched out for the akuma like him.

They spotted the practically floating boy, as he created his ice to skate on, closely followed by Chat and Ladybug. Suddenly, the Akuma looked up to them and the outline of a butterfly appeared around his eyes, making him grin.

Carapace's eyes widened as he saw the Akuma shooting a distracting block of ice at his enemies before easily launching himself up to their roof. Before Rena could do anything, her boyfriend got hit on his shoulder, flying off the roof mid-run.

Her scream couldn't escape her throat. She could barely even look after him since the Akuma now targeted her, chasing her over the rooftops whilst shooting spikes of sharp ice after her.

Panic took over her and she jumped onto the next roof but slipped, losing precious distance between her and the Akuma even when she got to her feet again.

Ladybug accompanied her sprint and threw some orders to Chat who vanished behind the nearest chimney, jumping out of sight. The Akuma still threw ice shards at them and cried out the wildest things, Ladybug was planning something with the new lucky charm she had gotten, but all Rena could think about was Nino.

She had just seen him disappearing, she hadn't even caught if he had managed to land on his feet or if he had slammed into something. Her mind was racing just as her legs carried her and she groaned.

"Look out!", Ladybug suddenly called out and Rena turned just in time to see the Akuma throwing a bigger spike at her than the others. She side stepped – into nothing.

Before she knew it, gravity took hold of her and her foot didn't find ground while Ladybug was getting to safety over the other side, in a controlled jump.

A hand grabbed her wrist and she was about to be relieved that someone had caught her, but as it turned out, the Akuma had gotten a hold of her.

His devilish grin on the face of a young boy sent chills down her spine, especially when he reached out to rip the Miraculous from her neck. The detransformation began at her feet and she immediately felt the biting cold winter air as she lost the protective suit around her ankles.

"Bye bye, foxy.", the boy laughed and finally let go of her, yet she still managed to grab her Miraculous from his fist and take it with her as she fell from the rooftop.

The air around her got faster and the wind loudly echoed in her ears as she pressed the Miraculous to her chest, her eyes filling with tears.

Her body fell faster and faster down and she knew she wouldn't have enough time to transform. Trixx was exhausted and she was already halfway down.

But even before the blood-curling scream could make its way out she was caught by two string arms and pressed against the chest plates of a very familiar suit. Immediately after being caught, she heard a male voice scream something, and a green shield manifested around them.

"Shellter!"

She was caught in a warm sphere, just big enough to fit the two of them comfortably. The shield bounced on the ground and they fell over each other, yet he still managed to catch her gently by taking the brunt of each impact, tightly cradling her in his arms.

The air was knocked out of her as she landed on top of his chest, her body sprawled out over his as they came to a rest on the bottom of the small sphere.

Both allowed themselves to breathe through for a moment, then Alya lifted her head and looked into the beautiful golden eyes of her boyfriend.

"… Don't do that again.", he brought out, accusingly, "I had a heart attack when I saw you falling."

"Well, same here!", she complained and lightly slapped his shoulder, pouting.

They glared at each other for a bit before Alya leant down and softly kissed him, nuzzling her nose against his. He lovingly responded, his arms locking tightly around her waist as he pulled her closer against him.

"… Thanks for catching me…", she mumbled, then she got up and into a sitting position on his lap, allowing him to sit up as well.

"Finally you two are done.", Trixx remarked and Alya rolled her eyes, softly scratching the little Kwami between his ears.

"Oh, stop complaining. I had to thank him. Now, you ready to go again? We still got some work to do."

In that moment, the snow and ice around them suddenly vanished and a swarm of cleansing ladybugs fixed everything around them. Carapace chuckled and let the shield disappear, making them both fall to the ground.

"Oompf!", he huffed, but then he grinned and kissed Alya's cheek, "In that case, go home and watch a movie?"

"I'm in.", she grinned.


	2. Day 2: Snowball Fight

**Squad having fun in the snow ;)**

* * *

There were few things that could get Nino as excited as he was now.

There was music that amazed him. Listening to music, creating music, performing music, he was in it for all of these things.

Alya, of course. His girlfriend could definitely get him all giddy and dreamy. When she winked at him, when she spoke to him, these rare moments when she looked into his eyes and got lost in them, when she wore one of his shirts to sleep in it.

She was one of the things that made him smile without reason, that could make him gush about for hours.

But right now, as he raced along the street with his best friends, as he turned and jumped around trees and shot snowballs at them, he felt so happy and giddy he could laugh aloud.

His snowball hit Alya on the shoulder and she grinned challengingly, ducking down to avoid one from Adrien and to make new ammunition for herself.

Marinette snuck up on Nino from behind but he had heard her, whirling around and avoiding her snowball by a hair as he ran down the sidewalk, readying his ball to charge at Adrien who just came up behind Alya. Marinette and his girlfriend were hot on his heels as he cackled and threw, but Adrien dodged the snowball and set off after him, new ammunition in his arms while he ran.

They chased after each other for a while before Nino finally won, ripping his arms up in victory as Adrien gave up, the last of his friends.

Completely out of breath and soaked through, the four friends made their way to Alya's house, laughing and teasing each other the whole way there.

"But you gotta admit, I had the best throwing technique!", Marinette argued with Alya who merely laughed, shaking her head.

"You may have had the strongest throws but your aiming wasn't the best. I hit Adrien from 20 meters distance!"

"Only because I'm so tall!", the blonde complained and Alya cackled, ruffling his hair.

"Model problems, pretty boy."

"I personally think", Nino chimed in, "Alya had some of the best hits."

His girlfriend grinned at him and nodded.

"See? There's someone with a brain."

"I meant hits by me. You were a pretty easy target.", he stuck his tongue out while she swatted at him, frowning.

"But at least I dodged the most snowballs in total!", Adrien now boasted, "I mean, you guys had me in your cross fire once and I pretty much got every single one!"

They laughed as Nino kicked some snow at Adrien's jeans.

"Yeah, that was pretty awesome but you gotta admit, you had a few."

"I mean, it's pretty impossible to dodge all of them when three people are throwing after you!"

Alya shook her head, burying her chin further in her scarf.

"Hey, at least I got the best way to fly out of the game."

Nino lovingly kissed her temple, grinning as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him while walking.

"Babe, I absolutely appreciated you throwing yourself in front of me to take a snowball."

Alya grinned proudly, leaning up to him to press her lips to his and to nuzzle her nose against his. He responded with a small kiss of his own until Marinette's gagging interrupted them.

"Guys, you know we're still here?"

Adrien shrugged next to her as Alya's face reddened, his smirk turning into a smug grin.

"Let them be in love. They're so cute together."

"Sure, papa Adrien.", Nino rolled his eyes, "Seriously, though, you sound like a fangirling parent."

"Hey, I defended you here!"

"Against a tiny, black haired, pigtails-wearing girl? Very scary.", Nino stuck his tongue out to Marinette only to own a smack from her.

"Watch your tongue, Ladybug wears pigtails, too!", Adrien now remarked, his back straightening. Nino merely shrugged and nodded as they all started walking again, not having noticed they had stopped.

They laughed again while Nino pulled Alya closer once more, pressing a kiss to her nose.

"Well then, I took the least snowballs to my face.", Marinette began again, owning a laugh from all of her friends.

"That's only because you're so tiny!", Adrien exclaimed and stole her hat, smirking and holding it up while she squeaked and jumped, "Come on, get it!"

Nino snatched the hat from his best friend and threw it back to Marinette, laughing as Adrien looked at him, utterly disappointed. Alya merely patted his shoulder before shrugging.

"I mean, you're right, but… Marinette's also pretty fast."

The girl in question pouted and nodded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"There you go. I'm fast. Body height doesn't always define their abilities."

"For example Ladybug! She's tiny, too!", Nino tried to help and owned a proud smile from Alya. She had just talked about this with him a few days ago. This had certainly given him some boyfriend bonus points.

As they arrived at Alya's front door she set her bag down and searched for her keys while Nino and Marinette continued chatting and Adrien went a little to the side, unsuspecting. It took her a few minutes to finally get to the keys with her frozen fingers but as she managed, Alya was startled by a shout from Adrien.

"Hey Nino!"

Her boyfriend turned just in time to see the gigantic snowball flying towards him before heavily settling on his face with a snowy WHACK!

Nino's head was ripped back and the hat he wore was knocked off of his hair before he fell like a cut off tree, his back hitting the snowed in green area next to the sidewalk.

There was a moment of silence in which Nino's head was still buried in snow, then a muffled sound broke through the silence.

A dull "Fuck you" came from the pile of snow and his friends erupted in loud laughter as he sat up, shaking the cold snow out of his collar.


	3. Day 3: Soulmates

This is an AU where the soulmates get born with a certain smell in their nose of the location where they'll meet their soulmate. When the scent gets stronger they come closer and it becomes the most intense when the characters meet. The scents can be neutralized at once with a kiss or a touch, though a touch lets the scent fade slowly.

.

Some people smelled freshly mowed grass, even if they lived in the desert. Some others smelled shampoo, or a bakery like Adrien, or curry, like his father and mother had.

That's how people found their soulmates.

From their birth on, people smelled the one scent until they met their soulmate. Some couldn't get it out of their nose and some only occasionally smelled it, some smelled the same as their soulmate, some smelled their soulmate's scent.

Some smelled their scent daily, not only in their head, and some didn't smell it at all but just held a faint memory of their smell, never getting less and never going away.

Marinette had always had a pretty strong smell of Camembert in her nose so she said, and when Nino got to know Adrien, he told him he sometimes got lost in the intense scent of a bakery that he smelled.

To say he was a bit jealous was an understatement.

Adrien and Marinette had found themselves when Adrien had joined the class in tenth grade. They had met right in front of Nino's nose and their eyes had widened when they had understood.

Throughout the months they had needed a bit of adjusting and dancing around each other but almost a year later, Adrien had built up his courage and asked her.

And she had said yes.

They had been friends for the time before that, close friends even, and with Nino they had been inseparable. But then they had taken different paths. Marinette and Adrien had stayed together, Nino had felt left out. And now, a few months after his two best friends had gotten together, Nino was getting a little annoyed. The whole class cheered on them as the perfect couple, and even Chloé had to begrudgingly admit that nobody could argue against the soulmate scent.

Personally, Nino had always had multiple scents in his nose. This wasn't uncommon, many people smelled a multitude of things. It meant that they met their soulmate at a very specific time and place where no strong scent was sticking out.

Some smelled subway stations, some smelled fast food restaurants, where a lot of scents came together. Nino was just glad he hadn't gotten the scent of a public toilet.

No, for him, it had always been Christmas. Which had made it a little crueler each year. The smell of freshly bakes Christmas cookies as well as cinnamon, oranges, the faint smell of mulled wine, a little cold air, grilled sausages, pie, all these wonderful things that had made him drool before already.

Yet… No matter how many Christmas markets he had visited, no matter how many times he had travelled through the land to get to Christmas markets, he never found his soulmate.

He was sure this was the scent of a market, though, he knew. He had been on so many already, he knew only these surroundings were able to create this unique scent.

And yet.

Yet he hadn't found them. He had looked high and low and had spoken to as many people as he could on these markets, but he had never found someone where the scent suddenly got so strong that he couldn't ignore it anymore.

He had sworn he wouldn't go to these markets anymore. Or, well, only occasionally, when his family was going.

Still, he found himself wandering again, from one Christmas market to the other in Paris, past stands that sold stuff he had seen a hundred times already. He sniffed the familiar scent in and sighed, shaking his head. He just couldn't keep himself from doing it. Maybe he would at some point find his soulmate, but he doubted by now that it would happen anytime soon.

He had been on Christmas markets so many times by now.

He wasn't even sure if that was just a scent that he always remembered, or if it was just his imagination. Well, he knew that the soulmate thing was for real. But was his soulmate for real?

Nino began to doubt it.

Though, just as he passed a stand of hot dogs, a strong scent of mulled wine suddenly made him stumble. It got stronger, and cinnamon joined. Nino's eyes widened as he understood.

His soulmate must be close. With faster getting steps he followed the scent of cinnamon, squeezing past people in thick jackets and trying not to slip on the slippery cobblestone.

They were close, they were here. Nino went faster, putting his phone away while he ran. A quick glance on his wrist watch told him the exact time and he swore he wouldn't forget this moment.

The scent got so strong that he got a little dizzy from the intensity of the mulled wine and the cinnamon. Just when he thought he'd have to stop, a girl in front of him squeezed past a couple and got to a halt, staring at him. Their eyes locked and Nino immediately fell in love. Well, he wasn't one for love at first glance, he actually hated that cliché, but as soon as he looked at her, as he took her in and her lips parted, probably to say something, he fell.

It felt like the scent got just a little stronger even, before vanishing completely as she stepped closer. His ears were numb and he heard everything through a wall.

His father had often told him about that. It was actually a chemical reaction in his body when he met his soulmate to immediately feel like he'd fall in love. The real feeling would come later, maybe.

If he fell in love, some soulmates didn't. And even if they wouldn't, he'd be more than happy just to have her in his life.

The girl now stood in front of him and seemed as perplex as him. He faintly registered two others following her and coming to a halt, maybe her friends.

Suddenly, she cupped his face and pulled him down to her, pressing a light kiss to his lips. He had read somewhere that this helped letting the intense scent of their soulmate fade, but it wasn't a really reliable theory since not everyone liked to kiss a stranger at the first meeting.

Though, as she let him go and he opened his eyes again to see her friends cheering, the scent was gone. He blinked and locked his eyes with her again, his ears now slowly letting sounds come through to him again.

"S-Sorry.", was the first thing he heard her say, "I mean, I know I don't know you but-… I uh, I kinda had a bet with my friends and also I don't really like the smell of mulled wine so, uh, it was making me dizzy. I uh, I'm really sorry to just jump on you like that, I really didn-"

Before she could finish, Nino cupped her face in return and pulled her in for a kiss, their teeth lightly clacking against each other before he parted from her again, his lips hovering merely just a centimeter over hers.

"… Name's Nino…", he mumbled with a grin, feeling her hands slowly coming up to his sides, "… We're even now. And I'm delighted to meet you."

"… A-Alya.", she stuttered, her warm breath smelling of cinnamon brushing over his cold chin.

Slowly, he opened his eyes again and smirked at her as she opened hers as well, their gaze meeting once again. His cheeky smile jumped over to her and she mimicked his face as she wrapped her arms around his waist now, pulling herself closer to him.

"Hi Nino.", she whispered and he nudged her nose with his.

"Hi. Wanna, uh… Get to know each other properly?"


	4. Day 4: Hot Chocolate

There were a few simple steps to cheer up a Nino, Alya knew.

He had had a bad day, hadn't slept enough and had gotten back a bad grade which he had to shown his parents. Alya had seen his shoulders sagging and his smile disappearing and it had broken her heart.

Despite Adrien's attempts of cheering him up, offering his help and treating him lunch, Nino had stayed demotivated throughout the day. The dark rings under his eyes had only gotten darker and his shoulders had stayed so down that Alya had feared his bag would slip right off.

It broke her heart to see him like this.

She had thought back and forth with Marinette, trying to find a way to cheer him up or at least soothe him a little, but no matter what they thought of, a study session, a day in the park with his friends, a game night this weekend, a surprise sleep over, nothing had seemed to be right.

Alya sighed as they sat in the last class for the day, literature with Miss Bustier.

She watched her boyfriend sunken down on the desk, his head resting on his heavily propped up arms and his shoulders so loose and hanging she thought if he didn't watch out his headphones might just slide off. Adrien tried animating him to join the lesson, to participate in any way because he knew Nino liked the topic, but he couldn't bring his best bud to react.

Marinette exchanged a shrug and a halfhearted smile with her best friend before turning back up front, concentrating on Miss Bustier's explanations.

Once again, Alya's gaze found back to her boyfriend and she sighed, reaching to the front to bury her fingers in his hair. A small sigh escaped his throat and he leant back against her, letting her fingers work through his hair and her fingernails scratching his scalp.

He swiftly took off his cap and leant against her hand, his eyes drooping and closing at her ministrations. She felt him relaxing under her hand and looked up to the front again where she saw Miss Bustier's slight smile when she looked over to them.

Her teacher had always been a sensible person and she had known Nino for way longer than her. Alya smiled back and listened to her again, knowing both Nino and her would be able to concentrate a lot better if she soothed him like that.

Adrien threw them a little jealous gaze and Alya saw that, grinning over to Marinette who was completely busy with taking notes of the lesson. Of course, she as her best friend knew that she was totally daydreaming about scratching Adrien like that. And Alya knew for a fact that he'd like it, after all she had done it a few times already.

Just that Adrien tended to curl up against the person scratching him like a cat, disabling him from following the lesson anymore. Nino groaned quietly and Alya sighed.

She wanted to cheer him up, she really did.

When Alya had gotten his message that he was grounded for a week her mission was clear. Without much discussion Trixx let her transform and jump over to Nino's house, armed with a thermos full of Hot Chocolate and a few cookies in a bag she had slung over her shoulder.

From afar she already saw his windows, lit up in the dim, soft shine of his nightstand lamp. Apparently, he had gone to bed early, probably because he didn't feel well. It broke her heart all over again but she continued making her way towards her boyfriend's apartment, they liquid sloshing around in the thermos.

With a last jump she landed on the windowsill, light as a cat would be. Her feet found enough room to rest on and she held her balance easily, so she could lightly knock on his window. A glance inside told her that he really was in bed, listening to music and staring to the ceiling so of course he couldn't hear her.

She knocked again but harder, which resulted in him getting startled and jumping out of the bed to open the window, Wayzz flying right behind him.

Alya gave him an awkward wave to which he responded with a slight smile, stepping to the side to let her out of the cold air. Alya slid in and came to a silent halt on the floor, with her feet not even making a sound. Nino's eyes flew to her bag as he closed the window but he didn't make a remark, probably waiting for her to tell him.

"Hey, Alya.", he whispered and she grinned, standing on her tiptoes to press a little kiss to his cheek.

"Hi.", she breathlessly responded, then she detransformed and Trixx vanished together with Wayzz in the direction of Nino's desk, probably to munch some of the sunflower seeds Nino kept for his Kwami.

The detransformation revealed Alya with comfy jogging pants and a shirt of Nino's, an older, faded out version of the shirt he liked to wear the most, which reached to the middle of her thighs. She silently congratulated her for her choice of clothes as the corners of his mouth pulled up into an adorable little smile.

"What're you doing here?", he asked in a hushed tone, watching her put down her bag with the hot chocolate and the cookies.

"I'm here to cheer up my girlfriend. We're having a sleepover.", she clarified before changing her tone to a dictating one, "One the bed now."

With a quiet chuckle he complied, sitting down on the bed and his eyes following her hips as she went to the desk to get his laptop and charger, before grabbing both the thermos and the cookies out of the bag and sitting down between his legs, putting all the things down.

"We're gonna watch a movie and eat cookies and drink hot chocolate and you're gonna feel better after sleeping with your girlfriend in your arms, understood?"

Nino laughed silently, not to alarm his parents.

"Aye aye, girlfriend.", he grinned, his arms already sneaking around her waist and his chin coming to a rest on her shoulder, "Which movie?"

She giggled.

"You have Netflix and wifi. We can decide on one."

"Netflix and chill then?", he asked with a smirk and she reddened slightly while smacking his shoulder.

"I'm trying to make you feel better, stop assuming things."

He shrugged and closed her lips with a soft kiss, closing his eyes as she melted against him, allowing herself to relax against him.

"… Thank you…", he finally mumbled, pulling her against him, "… And I wanna watch a kids movie."

Alya smirked.

"Dork. I love you."

"I love you, too. And now please gimme some of that hot chocolate already, I can't remember the last time I had some."


	5. Day 5: Snowed In

Nino couldn't remember if he had ever seen as much snow as this in his life before.

He had been skiing before and he had seen 3 meters of snow before, sure, but he wasn't sure if he had ever seen a blizzard like that.

The snow almost seemed to darken the sky, as thick as the blanket of frozen water particles came down on the earth right now.

The four friends had decided on having a little Christmas party just for fun at Marinette's place but as it seemed right now, it would turn into a sleepover.

Well, if Ladybug and Chat Noir didn't succeed at defeating this Akuma before it was too late to go on the streets, that was. Nino pressed his nose on the window and looked up into the sky, his eyes wide.

It had to be an Akuma, Paris had never seen that much snow. Normally, it was already doomsday when ten centimeters dared to stay lying on the ground for more than a night. Usually, that meant a total hazard and mass panic as well as the complete collapse of any known infrastructure and public transportation.

Plus, this flood of snow had only come within the last few minutes, maybe half an hour without them noticing.

"I'll, uh, go see if the bakery's safe!", Marinette called out and vanished through the hatch. Adrien followed her in a heartbeat, mumbling something about the toilet, before vanishing as well.

Alya accompanied Nino on the window and looked outside with him, rubbing over her chest where her Miraculous normally rested.

They had had to give it up again, to make sure it wouldn't fall in the wrong hands, but at least they were allowed to keep it a few days in a row now, to make sure Paris stayed safe on their patrols.

Nino hadn't even realized he had rubbed his wrist before Alya took one of his hands and interlaced their fingers.

"It's scary…", she mumbled and he was about to reassure her it was just snow when she added to it, "Not being able to do something. Back when I didn't have the Miraculous yet I didn't mind but now, knowing I could do something… It's scary not to…"

"Already gotten used to it?", Nino asked, nodding slightly. He knew the feeling.

"Gotten used to jumping into the fight? A long time ago.", he laughed at her joke but felt her squeezing his hand, "But actually taking part? Helping and having these powers? Almost too fast…"

He sighed and squeezed her hand back, lifting it up to press his lips against the back of her hand.

"I know, Als… I feel the same."

She leant against him, resting her head on his shoulder and looking outside, their hands interlaced between them and their bodies perfectly fitting against each other.

Nino sighed as he watched the blanket of snow below on the streets rising unnaturally fast, not as fast as one might think but fast enough to see the difference in height when he observed a fixed point like a car for a minute. The snow constantly fell, never lessening and never slowing down as Nino watched, his hand coming up to cup Alya's face when the doors on street level started filling up and vanishing beneath the rising pile of snow.

"It feels weird…", Alya said once again, snuggling her cheek into his palm and lightly pressing a kiss to his wrist.

"It does.", Nino fought off the urge to rub his wrist again and stared out into the white, irritating memories of his own time as an Akuma, the two times as an Akuma, coming up within him. He bit his lip, watching the last doorframe drowning.

"Let's go further back? I got a feeling the snow won't stop rising and I'm not sure if the windows will withstand the pressure."

Alya nodded and let him guide her back, further into the room, where they settled on the floor with a few blankets and pillows Nino had grabbed from the chaise.

They wrapped themselves in a big two-person blanket and looked out of the window, the sight now not as threatening anymore when their eyes followed the dancing snowflakes, hundreds and hundreds of white spots floating and whirling in their own rhythm against a grey sky.

"… You okay?", Nino asked, his voice dying in his throat before he swallowed.

"I'm okay.", Alya replied, snuggling against him and hiding her face in his neck before glancing outside again, "I'm okay as long as you're here."

"… Feels like the panther cage all over again, huh?", he joked, even if his heart beat faster.

A short silence followed, then Alya nodded and he could feel her squeezing his hand once again, searching for comfort and reassurance.

"… Like the panther cage, yeah…", she mumbled, hearing the windows downstairs already groan under the weight of the snow. They were just lucky Tom and Sabine were outside of Paris to cater an event, so they wouldn't have to see their beloved bakery faltering under the snow.

Nino pulled Alya tighter against him as they heard the rustling of the snow falling onto the surface of the snow pile growing closer. The girl slid closer to him and rested their hands on their lap as their hips bumped against each other, resting her head on his shoulder. He in turn just reached around her, pulling her on top of his lap to cradle her close. He knew how much Alya hated to be caught somewhere, with no way out. And even if Marinette's room was big enough, they could hear the house groaning and creaking as it tried to withstand the force of the snow.

Downstairs, the first window cracked with an audible sound throughout the staircase. Nino faintly remembered Marinette having mentioned to go downstairs but he knew she'd be safe. She probably met Adrien on the way up again and was now in the living room with him.

Or maybe she stayed in the stairwell. Or something else. For some reason, Nino was sure Marinette and Adrien were safe.

The windows on the first level creaked now, and they could see the snow rising up to the round window of Marinette's room. Slowly, the room lost light and got painted in grey, the blanket lying itself over the windows like a grey veil.

Slowly, the room got darker and the creaking noise got louder as the house got buried beneath the pile of snow, covering the windows and drowning everything out.

The noises from outside had long been blocked out by the meters over meters of snow and the room slowly lost every light. Nino couldn't bring himself to stand up and turn on the light since Alya buried her face in his neck, shivering on her whole body. So he merely searched out his phone and put on his flashlight, laying it screen down on the floor so they could have a bit of light.

Despite the light, the snow slowly swallowed all the sunlight and they sunk into darkness.


	6. Day 6: Balcony Scene

"Hey there, pretty girl.", a dark voice sounded above her and Alya whirled around on her balcony, leaning against the railing to see Carapace looking down at her with bright eyes and an even broader grin.

She responded to his grin with a smile of her own and watched him slide down from the roof to come to his feet on her balcony, the shield clipped onto his back.

"Hey there, pretty boy.", she teased back, letting her hands brush over his pecs as soon as he had stepped close enough for her to reach. Her fingers wandered up his chest to his hood and she pushed it off his hair to bury her fingers in the soft brown curls.

"It's awfully late to be outside.", he quipped but she was just as fast to answer.

"I like to be awake when it's late because it means a bit of silence."

"Aren't you cold?", he now tried.

"I got my jacket and my thoughts to warm me."

A grin dominated his face now, his eyes jumping between hers.

"Thoughts like?"

She shrugged no descriptively, giggling.

"Thoughts like how adorable my boyfriend is for visiting me this late."

They both laughed as he pressed a light kiss to her forehead, letting the silence lie down on them for a while before speaking again, silently, and something in his eyes shifted.

"What's a beautiful little lady like you doing outside in the dark at this hour?", he mocked her but she still saw the cheeky and amused glimmer in his eyes.

"Oh, nothing really. I was just-… Watching, waiting…", she gave back, the smirk on her face growing as he stepped even closer to her, his legs hugging hers as he stood so close, he had to position his feet next to hers. His arms wrapped around her waist and Alya giggled, nuzzling her nose against his as he leant down.

"Waiting?", he prompted, the laughter already hidden in his voice, "Waiting for what?"

"Waiting for whom.", she corrected him, pulling him down to her. He chuckled as he placed a kiss on the corner of her mouth.

"And who is the lucky person you're waiting on?"

"… My knight in shining armor, maybe?", she gasped as he kissed down her jaw to her neck, their warm breaths coming in white clouds floating around their faces.

He merely grumbled as he kissed further down before leaning towards her and locking an arm around her thighs to lift her up and carry her back inside.

She closed the door as he kissed around the base of her neck, now slowly letting her down on her bed. Alya pulled him down with her, letting him rest on top of her and continue his ministrations while a green flash washed over them both, engulfing them for just a second before Wayzz vanished somewhere in the dark depths of her room and leaving the young couple to themselves.

Nino's voice rumbled on her neck as he hummed, now kissing to the other side of her neck before tightening his hug around her and burying his face in the crook of her neck.

Alya sighed as she cradled his head, combing with her fingers through his short, soft hair and brushing down his spine with her other hand.

"… You okay?", she finally asked into the silence, her heart still beating fast and his warm breath on her skin still making her feel shivers run down her spine.

"… Mhm…", he vaguely replied, his eyelashes lightly brushing over her neck. He breathed through a few times before finding his voice again, "I-… I've been thinking. Sorry to have jumped on you like that."

She merely hummed in understanding, closing her eyes as well as she snuggled against him.

"Does that thinking have to do with jumping on me like that?"

He grumbled and huffed for a while before answering, his words thought out and carefully phrased.

"Well… Partly. I have been thinking about how-… This hero job affects us. We're even closer to the fight than before and-… I guess I got scared. Scared for you, for us."

He lifted his head off her chest and looked at her, his golden eyes now filled with fear, fear for the future.

"Scared?", she asked, a lump building up in her throat. He merely lied his head back down on her and kissed the bit exposed skin that he found in her small cleavage.

"Scared.", he confirmed, "Because-… What if something happens to us? What if something goes wrong and-…"

Alya pulled him closer and sighed, kissing the top of his head, his fine hair tickling her upper lip.

"Nothing will go wrong. Ladybug and Chat Noir have done this job for a year now and nothing ever happened to them.", after a short pause she hurriedly added, "At least nothing that wasn't reversible. Ladybug's lucky charm and her cleansing light can fix everything."

Nino nuzzled closer and she felt him shivering. Shortly, she asked herself if the balcony door was still open but it became evident really quickly that he shivered because he suffered under his own imagination.

Alya massaged his scalp and shook her head, waiting for a moment for him to catch himself.

In the silence, she heard both their Kwamis speaking in hushed voices, in a language too old and fast for her to understand.

Her breathing was low and even while Nino's was erratic and fast but he soon found her rhythm, breathing with her as he calmed down, listening to her heart. It still thumped loudly in her chest from his sudden ministrations, since he had never gone down on her that fast, but it slowly calmed down as he did.

After a while there was just their tandem breathing, their Kwamis having quieted. After breathing together, Nino finally breathed in to speak and she encouragingly brushed through his hair.

"… I just-… Didn't wanna repeat something like what happened on heroes' day…"

"It won't…", she whispered, "It won't."


	7. Day 7: Bed Sharing

Nino exhaustedly flopped down onto the mattress on the floor that they had put there for his sleepover at her place and groaned into the pillow after detransforming, closely followed by Rena. She sat down next to him and leant on her bed that was right next to the mattress with a lower arm length space in between them.

An orange flash filled the dark room and Nino reached out for her, feeling her limp hand take his, their fingers interlacing.

The Akuma today had demanded all their strength and definitely left them an exhausted mess. Not even Ladybug or Chat Noir had looked any better and they had had a year more of experience and training.

Alya's hand in Nino's twitched and he felt that she slowly fell asleep, so he forced himself to get up, his whole body aching from the fight. With a groan he kneeled down next to his girlfriend and locked his arms around her, lifting her up in his embrace and lowering her down on her bed, as softly as he could.

His back felt like someone had used a jackhammer to massage him and his arms felt as if they weighed tons.

She whimpered as he moved her but soon snuggled into her sheets and sighed contently. Nino slowly exited the room and got a few sunflower seeds that he found in the kitchen, as well as a few carrots that he peeled and cut into small circles.

Then he returned to the room and placed the bowl with both on the desk where the Kwami's had already rolled up together on the pillow, leaving it to them as soon as they'd feel like eating.

After checking on them that they were alright, he went back to Alya and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Hey beautiful…", he began, reaching out and brushing a strand of hair from her shoulder to see her face, "Does it hurt somewhere?"

She only groaned, opening one of her wonderful eyes, and weakly gestured to all of her body.

"There.", she helpfully added, making him chuckle.

"No, I mean… Do you have an injury? Do you want some balm?"

A grimace dominated her face and she pointed to her arm that laid next to her, unmoving.

"Shoulder."

Nino remembered that she had been hit with one of the pieces of debris when the Akuma had brought one of the buildings down above them.

"Alright, beautiful. Just stay here, I'll be right back."

He made his way to the bathroom, almost wincing when he had to reach up to get the bandages and balms down from the shelf, but he managed to get it down without throwing anything to the floor.

After a short break on the toilet to breathe through he got up again and limped back to Alya's room, carrying the emergency kit with him.

"Can you sit up?"

Alya let out a whimper as she turned to her side and rolled over her arm, but with a helping hand from her boyfriend, she got into a seating position. He sat down next to her and spread the emergency kit next to himself, letting her lean onto his shoulder.

"I'm so tired…", she mumbled and he nodded, lightly caressing her cheek.

"Yep, me too."

After a bit of fumbling around with her shirt and the bandage – all while keeping his girlfriend upright – he managed to put some painkiller balm on and a bandage around her shoulder, trying not to blush at the sigh of her in a bra.

It didn't take long for him to finish the bandage and she sleepily instructed him to turn around and not look. Nino felt the blush deepening when he felt her elbow bumping his back and her back leaning against his arm, trying to keep her balance as she changed into a shirt of his, to sleep in it.

After she was done she yawned and turned around to him, her eyes sleepy but still worried.

"Do you have anything to care for."

"Oh, no no.", he lied, giving her an awkward grin, "I'm fine. Let's just go to sleep."

Her gaze alone told him that she wasn't satisfied with her answer so he shyly admitted that his back hurt.

"Turn around and let me see.", she said and he pressed his lips together, turning around and pulling the shirt over his head to let her take a look at him.

The sharp intake of breath from her already showed him that this wasn't a good sign so he sighed, trying to straighten up a little.

"It's-… Probably not as bad as it looks like?", he tried but she didn't hear him. Her cool fingers lightly brushed over his skin and he winced at the small relief that spread in his body, goosebumps rushing over his arms.

"It is as bad as it looks like.", Alya promised, shaking her head since he felt the strands of her hair on his skin, and he groaned as she placed a light kiss on his back before spreading some of the cool painkiller around his injuries.

"Sorry…", he mumbled but she grabbed his shoulder, giving him a noise of disagreement.

"You're a hero. Don't be sorry for protecting so many lives, even if you got hurt in the process."

He turned around to her and saw tears swimming in her eyes, so he cupped her face and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"… I'm sorry for hurting you, though."

That's what broke the dam. She silently sniffled and leant against him, nodding slowly and giving herself entirely to his embrace. Her tears came quickly and violently as he held her, letting her cry off all the responsibilities, exhaustion and hurt that she had experienced today. At the same time he asked himself if Ladybug and Chat Noir also had someone to lean onto and cry at their shoulder when they felt like that.

After her sobs subsided, Alya just panted heavily, slowly finding back to her usual rationality and calmness.

"… You okay again?", he carefully asked and she nodded against his cheek once more, her hands slowly getting to his back again.

"Y-Yeah, I think. Now show me your back again."

While she bandaged his injuries he also let his tears flow freely, knowing that she had noticed him crying. Though, she knew he didn't like crying in front of her so she stretched it out, working on his back for as long as possible until his breathing was fine again.

"You don't have to hide it, you know?", she finally asked as he leant back against her touch, the bandage long done.

"Maybe someday.", Nino gave her back and turned around to her to smile slightly, not caring that both their eyes were red and swollen.

"Let's sleep?"

"Let's sleep.", she agreed, though as he wanted to slip down from her bed onto his mattress, she held him back by grabbing his wrist, "Please stay."

Nino was about to say that he was, though he understood only a second later what she meant. Instantly, he blushed but he didn't object, biting his lips. They had never slept in one bed together as a couple yet and Nino was a little nervous about that, but as she lied down and gestured him to come join her, he didn't hesitate. They both climbed beneath the blanket together, with a few painfilled grans here and there, but as they finally both got their uncomfortable jeans off and lied beside each other, the world was instantly a better place.

Nino felt her reach over and take his arm as she turned to the side, pulling him sideways with her so he hugged her from behind, and sighed in contentment as he pulled her closer.

"I love you.", he whispered at her, feeling like this was the kinda moment to say it for one of the few times they've already said it.

"I love you, too.", she replied and he grinned, kissing her neck.

"Sleep well."

She didn't even respond anymore as sleep had already taken over her.


	8. Day 8: Music

Just so you guys know, I'll be uploading all prompts on the right day on Tumblr (as long as this hellsite exists anyway) since I can queue them there. I'll only be able to update Ao3 and on weekends.  
So if you wanna stay up to date with my DJWifi December Prompts, feel free to visit my tumblr: 3laxx  
Enjoy~

* * *

There was good and there was bad music, Nino knew that better than anyone.

And by that he didn't categorize after his own taste (which did play a role but he didn't want to admit that) but after the beat, the melody, the way it was played and the quality.

And he could definitely give a song a judgement by the first listen. He just knew if it was a bad song or not, he could tell.

And this definitely was a bad song.

Nino grimaced as he went after Alya, trying not to slip on the snow, as the probably a little more than tipsy band played on the tiny stage of the Christmas Market.

This was-… A bad song. A very bad song and a very bad performance. Even if he assumed that the band probably didn't care.

But his girlfriend wouldn't budge. She mercilessly pulled him to the next stand, looking at the things there with big eyes, while he suffered under the music violating his ears.

Did she not hear that? Did she not realize how much pain he had to endure just by standing too close to the stage? Nino pulled his hat down over his ears with a whine, which earned him an amused chuckle from his girlfriend.

"It's not _that_ bad, you big baby.", she laughed at him and while her smile did make up for some of the unholy sounds that reached him, it still didn't make the band stop.

"It _is_ that bad!", he insisted and she merely laughed, shaking her head.

"You're just being a nerd about it. These guys are drunk and having fun, and most of the people watching them are just as drunk. Just let them have their fun."

He groaned once again, shaking his head and keeping his hands on his ears.

"If it's their fun, fine, but every sober person in the hearing range of this monstrosity of shameful cats' concert is crying."

Alya shortly looked around, then she giggled as she reached up to his cheek, caressing it with her gloved fingers.

"I think you're the only one crying.", her eyes twinkled in amusement, "Also, I don't think Chat Noir would like you categorizing this music as the same as the one produced by his kind."

Nino rolled his eyes at that comment but decided not to discuss.

Woman was right, woman knew better.

So he merely followed her to the next stand, internally wailing about the many wrong notes that he heard from every single instrument played on that stage. Soon, his ears wouldn't stand the torture anymore.

Just as they stepped closer to the stage again, though, for Alya to coo at the displayed angels that were carved of wood, he got an idea. It would be super embarrassing and Alya would probably break up with him. He would get disinherited by his family and he'd probably write bad, bad history with that, destroying his reputation forever, but he couldn't let his pride as a musician starve to death by this horrible representation of his passion.

Without thinking much, he left Alya where she was, wondering if he ever told her he played the guitar (probably not), and made his way towards the stage.

It was in some way soothing to him that he could turn around at every second but he didn't. The first and second and fifth and tenth step were done and he would go through with his plan. Someone had to save these poor souls.

With a determined march he claimed the stage, right as the band had finished this awful song, and Nino got to the lead singer.

"Can I play?", he asked with a shaky voice and the tipsy man turned to him with a toothy smile.

"Whaddya want?", he slurred, his gaze not quite focusing on Nino as he tried speaking, "You wanna play?"

Nino nodded and held out his hands for the guitar.

"You and your colleagues can get another mulled wine, I'll keep the masses entertained."

The lead singer eyed the 'masses' (15 twenty-ish year old guys, completely drunk, maybe 3 families with tired kids and a few couples) and broke out into a loud cackle that partly got transferred to the speakers by the mic. Nino flinched lightly as he saw Alya turning around, curious because of the guy's laugh, but he held his position.

After a moment, the lead singer left his stool and handed the boy the guitar, shrugging.

"Well then, buddies! Kiddo's gonna keep singin' for us, let's get another round!"

The band slowly left the stage and Nino gulped, hesitantly lowering himself down on the stool the lead singer had left for him, adjusting the mic after slinging the strap of the guitar around his upper body. He could prop one foot up on a small pipe on the stool and keep the guitar balanced so he'd be able to play, then he looked up into the small crowd that had gathered now, curious what he was about to do.

Alya had joined them, her face burning red but her eyes undecided between embarrassment, curiosity and a very, very big question mark.

Nino tried not to look at her as he tuned up the guitar anew, finding the right chords with practiced ease and breathing through. He felt a cold breeze playing with the hairs in his neck and ignored the goosebumps rushing over his whole body, playing down his nervousness.

 _This is fine_ , he insisted, _Just begin. Start playing._

The first few chords came easily. He plucked the strings the same way he had always done it at home. This was easy.

And without thinking much more about it, he began singing. It was a common Christmas Carol, nothing exciting or out of the ordinary. It had been the first thing which had been right for the theme that had come to his mind and he had just begun, knowing the chords exactly and singing from his heart. He had been in a choir since his kindergarten days, he had sung this song every Christmas at least a thousand times. And when he kept his eyes closed, he didn't see the people forming a crowd around him, quietly joining in on him singing but keeping it so quiet that his voice carried over everyone, audible across the whole market that had suddenly become a little bit quieter to listen.

With an amazed stare, Alya couldn't turn away from her boyfriend, watching him take the stage as if he was born for this.

He easily made his presence known just by singing a simple song, and that while Nino had always been a rather shy, not really talkative guy.

She had gotten to know him as a DJ, as a boy throwing together some beats with the right song, adjusting it to a remix. A boy sometimes coming up with an own melody, but not like this. She had never heard him sing, as she realized now.

His voice suddenly was completely new to her, but familiar enough for her to slowly move through the bigger becoming crowd by the second, making her way towards him.

She had never seen him like this, without his technical equipment, without his soundboards and his headphones and the usual Nino attitude, the awkward boy with a heart of gold.

This here, that was a singer. By heart.

She got to the stage and propped herself up on the edge, staring up at him with wide eyes and an open jaw.

Where the hell had he learned to sing? When had he suddenly become the golden-eyed boy with the soft voice who sang for a crowd?

He didn't perform like he usually did, Alya could tell. She had been there for most of his gigs already. She knew his style. This was not his style but she found herself falling in love with him with every note he sang, with every tone his soft voice formed and with every deep tenor sound he created, she fell in love with him a little more.

When he finished the song, quite the crowd had gathered around the stage, silent and amazed, and he opened his eyes to blush at them erupting in cheers and loud shouts for an encore.

But there was nothing compared to the girl suddenly climbing onto the stage from the first row where she had listened, pulling him down for a chaste but firm kiss. The crowd cheered even more and whistled as she pulled away, her wild hair at least shielding his red face a little when he looked at her.

"I love you.", Alya whispered, kissing him again, "Please sing another song."

So he did.


	9. Day 9: Sharing Jackets

When they stepped out into the bitter cold, Alya already huffed and pulled her jacket tighter around her form. Nino sighed when he followed her, the biting cold of a late December evening piercing right down to their bones.

He huddled deeper into his scarf as well, staying close to his girlfriend as he quickly caught up to her fast steps, reaching over to let his hand slip into her pocket to interlace their fingers. She squeezed his hand and he heard a small happy sound, so he grinned and lightly squeezed back.

"You okay?", he mumbled and she looked up to him, shaking but smiling.

"Yeah. Thanks."

He blushed a bit and shrugged in turn, his thumb lovingly brushing over her index joint.

The sidewalk was a little slippery and they had to walk slowly, but Nino enjoyed every second. It was just the third time they had ever held hands like this and he loved it, he wanted to do it everytime. Alya wasn't much of a person to show affection openly so he didn't always have the chance to but sometimes, when he caught the right moment, he was overjoyed and knew she liked it, too.

Their hands slowly warmed up around each other and it left Nino's heart soaring and his whole body heated up and comfortably setting a contrast to the cool snow.

Much in contrary to Alya, though.

She seemed to shiver even more the longer they walked and first her chin, then her lips and finally her nose vanished within the depths of her scarf.

He couldn't help but chuckle at the adorable sight but after a short death glare he was silent. She really seemed to be cold.

He remembered that she had grown up in the warm environment of the Caribbean Islands, on Martinique, so she probably couldn't exactly handle the cold winters of Paris well. Considering that this was only her second Christmas in Paris, he could understand that she would react that way.

They reached the meeting spot in front of the cinema where they had agreed on with a group of friends, but it seemed like they were the first. Nino sighed as he turned to Alya, keeping their hands locked together.

"Hey beautiful.", he called her with a warm smile and her olive eyes turned up to him, a smile forming on her lips.

"H-Hi handsome.", she stuttered back, her whole body shaking with the cold. His smile slowly vanished.

"Wanna go inside already? We could warm up there and wait for them."

Alya shot a longing gaze to the insides of the relatively dark cinema but shook her head, frowning.

"We agreed on meeting here. They'll only take a few more minutes."

He couldn't help but smirk at her stubbornness, taking a tiny step closer to her to let her rest her head on his chest.

"If you say so.", he chuckled and kissed her hat, feeling how she begrudgingly snuggled up to him.

They waited for a few minutes, and a few minutes more, until Nino finally spoke up about her freezing to death right in his embrace.

He had known they had been too early but ten minutes had passed and nobody had shown up yet. For Adrien and Marinette, it was likely to be too late, for Marinette maybe even to show up when the movie already started. The rest of their friends were normally on time but they still had 5 minutes to their agreed time and Alya still didn't want go inside.

"Are you sure you don't-"

"Nope.", she interrupted him with a weak protest, her mouth muffled against his jacket.

He sighed but before he could in turn complain again, he had an idea. With an interested expression his gaze shot up and down her jacket and he grinned.

"Hey Alya? Which brand is your jacket from?"

He already knew which brand it was from. After all they had bought their jackets together.

She confusedly looked up to him, obviously remembering the same thing as he did, before naming the brand. He giggled in delight and parted from her to open his jacket.

"Wh-What're you doing, are you crazy?!", she immediately exclaimed, trying to stop him from dying an inevitable death of hypothermia, "Close it again! You're gonna freeze, I need your boyfriend warmth!"

Nino only laughed as he kissed her nose, then he unzipped the zipper completely and opened his arms.

"C'mon, do the same."

Her shocked, indignant face was a sight for the gods.

"… What."

"We'll zip our jackets together! C'mon, it's gonna be fun!", he laughed and wrapped his arms around his torso again, "It is cold, though."

She still eyed him suspiciously but unzipped her jacket and immediately stepped into his warmth to snuggle her cheek against his heated-up sweater, sighing in contentment. Not even a second later she felt him fumbling with the zipper of his jacket, to get it on hers. She was about to tell him to give up and close her jacket again, even if resting her cheek on his sweater had been a nice experience, when she suddenly heard a zip and felt something pulling on her side. He chuckled lightly and cheered before turning to the other side, connecting the zipper of her jacket with his as well, and she felt her body being pressed flush against his.

"Told it'd be warmer.", his voice was suddenly very close to her ear as he embraced her again, his arms still in the sleeves of his jacket, but his body suddenly so much closer, his warmth engulfing he like a wave. She merely hummed in response and he giggled as he felt her slipping her arms out of her sleeves to wrap them around his waist beneath the jacket, his warm body working like a heater.

Nino took her sleeves not to let any cold air in and wrapped them around her as well, then he stayed like that and snuggled her close, feeling her shivering slowly subsiding.

It took almost 10 more minutes for their friends to show up and as they did, they only found a very happy Nino grinning from ear to ear and a sleepy Alya leaning heavily onto her boyfriend, caught in the warmest embrace imaginable.


	10. Day 10: Late Nights

Alya huffed as she saw the small "online" beneath Nino's name as she checked on her phone.

It was 3 in the morning and she had woken up for no special reason, so she had decided to drink a bit of water, unlock her phone and scroll around a bit, only to find that her boyfriend was awake.

Without another thought, she called him, not surprised as he accepted.

"Coincidence?", she asked drowsily, blinking a few times while sitting up, "I think not."

Back came a very forced voice accompanied by a yawn, trying his best to act sleepy.

"Oh man… Alya… What're you doing, calling so late… You woke me up."

All Alya had as a comment to that was a lifted eyebrow.

"Are you kidding me, your phone is never on vibration or sound. You're still awake, not just now."

She literally heard his shoulders slumping, defeatedly.

"… Okay fine. You got me. Why're you up so late?"

She groaned as she slid back against the headrest of her bed, rolling her eyes.

"I woke up. Dunno why, I think I was just thirsty. How about you?"

An awkward silence followed as he didn't respond for a while but just before Alya was about to say something he laughed nervously and talked up before she could.

"Heh, yeah, you know that one song I talked about yesterday? Yeah, I uh, I'm currently remixing that one, I uh, that's just what I'm doing right now!"

Alya sighed in exasperation and shook her head, half believing him but she sensed that something was wrong.

"Nino, and now honestly. What're you doing? It's a school night, you're normally in bed at 1am. Which is also late but I don't wanna by a hypocrite."

He once again remained silent before she heard a noise coming closer to him, passing him and vanishing again. It almost sounded like a car.

"Where. Are you.", she was now wide awake as she sat up straight, her eyes widened. A thousand possible thoughts passed her mind and she felt panic rising up inside her before Nino answered, thank god.

"… Uh… Let me in?", he sheepishly asked, making her eyes blow wider than she had thought they could get. With one jump she was out of the bed, had hung up on him and was hurriedly sneaking down the hallway not to wake anyone. A few fast steps later she opened the front door, already hearing him sneak up the stairs to her apartment.

With a hushed whisper she yelled down, seeing his head appearing next to the railing, in the middle between the stairs. His eyes were bright golden but the dark rings under his eyes and the mussed up hair spoke for themselves that he had apparently tried to sleep but hadn't managed.

"Nino, what are you doing here?!"

He quickly ran up the last stairs, careful not to be too loud, groaning as he finally reached her and heavily leant on her. Alya tightly locked her arms around his waist, grateful that she had woken up just at the right time. She didn't even want to know how log he had been outside already. His ice-cold clothes and the red nose already told her of an answer that she didn't want to hear, though.

She didn't want to admit that she was relieved that he wasn't in trouble, so she leant back again and gave him a light slap, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Are you crazy?! You haven't taken any drugs, have you? Oh my god, you're such an idiot!"

Nino pouted as he turned his head to her again, her fingers slowly appearing as red shades on his cheek.

"Hey, that wasn't nice.", he whined but she didn't care as she pulled him inside as silently as she could, past her sisters' and her parents' bedrooms towards her own.

Only as they were in her room again, she sat him down on her bed and closed the door.

"So, what's up?", she asked in a stern tone, her voice leaving no room for discussions or attempts to lie.

Nino sighed and gestured for her to sit down next to him. She did, although not without some hesitance.

"I just-… I've been having nightmares ever since we got the Miraculous. I had nightmares of-… Uhm… I couldn't sleeping anymore. So I went to get some fresh air."

She couldn't hide her concern anymore as she grabbed his arm, hugging it tightly while resting her head on his shoulder.

"Don't you know that's super dangerous…?", she asked, suppressing tears as she felt him beside her, alive and well and although a little cold, still fully healthy.

He carefully shrugged to that, cupping her face and keeping her close as he kissed her forehead.

"I know… I just-… I couldn't stay home. I had to get out."

She shook her head while she led him to lay down on her bed, snuggling against him as his head finally rested on the pillow, with her ear pressed against his heart.

"… Nightmares of which kind…?", she slowly asked, kissing his shirt. He groaned and shook his head but she nudged him with her nose and he let his other arm lie over his eyes as she demanded to know.

"Nightmares like losing people.", he finally admitted, almost sounding embarrassed, "Like you. Losing you. I can't bear losing you."

Her breath stuttered as she felt his chest rising erratically, looking up to him shell shocked to find that he was crying. Suddenly, she realized that their position was the wrong way.

"You won't lose me, Nino.", she mumbled while propping herself up and getting up to him, resting her head on the pillow instead of him, and leading him to press his ear on her chest in turn.

"I won't.", he whispered, his voice thick and his teeth clenched.

"You won't. Ever. I'm Rena Rouge, I can keep an eye out for myself. And if I can't, you will. You always will."

To that, he gave her a slow nod, remaining in silence until his breaths came more even.

"I will."


	11. Day 11: Blanket Fort

"Yo Alya.", Nino called out from beside her, his feet snuggled against hers. She looked up from her corner, tilting her head at him as she eyed him. Only then he looked up from his phone, grinning and turning it around.

On the screen she could recognize Instagram's layout and sighed when she tried to read the picture.

"Wait, hold on.", she moved forward a little, to see the picture better and to read the text on it.

It was a blanket fort and, in the description, stood that everyone who had done this when they were young, they should leave a like.

The red heart beneath the post gave her the reason of Nino's broad smile and she rolled her eyes at him before double tapping the pic again, the heart once again flashing.

"I mean, who didn't do this back then?"

His grin didn't falter and he didn't take his phone back in his lap. Alya suspiciously eyed him.

"What do you want?"

He giggled and got closer, too, now kneeling so he took her legs between his, his face suddenly close to hers.

"Let's build one now.", he tried seducing her and even if she couldn't deny the slight feeling of excitement on her stomach, just this little twinge of childishness, she shook her head.

"We can't build one now.", she declined and saw the same childish excitement that she felt dying down a little in his eyes, "We should've long gotten up and done our homework. My mom and the twins will be home within the next hour and we haven't even cleaned up the kitchen yet."

"And yet we're still sitting here~…", Nino tried again, leaning forward a little more even.

"No.", she firmly said and looked down at her phone again. Relaxing for ten minutes was fine, but building a blanket fort and playing in it? That would probably take up hours.

"That's an adult answer.", Nino pouted and rested his chin on her knees, hugging her legs as he tried the puppy eyes. Her boyfriend be damned for having these beautiful golden eyes.

"So what if it is an adult answer?", she countered but he just pulled even bigger puppy eyes, a whine escaping his throat.

"Please?"

Alya kept her stance for about .2 seconds before giving in and putting her phone away, unable to deny the same joy she felt at the thought of building a blanket fort.

"… Fine.", she finally agreed and earned an overexcited kiss on the nose from her boyfriend, making her blush slightly at his grin.

"Yes! Get up, we need the pillows! And chairs! And blankets!"

She laughed as she got up and followed him to the living room to carry in a few chairs, watching her boyfriend giggle like a small girl.

"Okay, I think four should be enough.", he nodded, making and important face, "Onwards, woman!"

She grabbed two chairs by the backrest and shook her head at him with loud laughter, feeling the warm happiness bubbling up inside her.  
"Alright, alright, Bob.", she soothed him but only got a confused face.

"Why Bob?"

"Bob the Builder? Don't tell me you never watched it as a kid!"

Nino gave her a hearty laugh and kissed her cheek, nodding.

"No, I've seen it. Okay! Position your chairs there and I go here and then we take the backrest pillows from the couch to make rooms and when we've done that, we'll put blankets over it!"

"Aye aye!", Alya responded but took a pillow and used up a whole ten minutes to start a pillow fight with him. In the end he let her win and they got started on the blanket fort, excitedly creating rooms for their own tiny house.

A bedroom, a kitchen, a bath, a living room, and an entrance, really important. Alya almost knocked a chair over while laughing when Nino tried to position two backrest pillows on top of each other for the entrance. In the end they settled for a normal entrance for their house, a rift between two pillows, and put the biggest blanket they could find over it as a roof.

Without even waiting for Alya to put enough weights on her end of the blanket, he carefully dived inside, awing at their house.

"Alya, it's perfect!", he exclaimed, his legs still sticking out. She giggled at that and sat down on his butt to lied down on top of him, looking into the house over his head.  
"Ooooh, it's a little dark in here!", she huffed as she fished her phone out of her pocket, turning on the flashlight. The nostalgia overcame them both in a fit of giggles when they looked into the house, down the two hallways and four rooms they had created, everything looking exactly as if they were still five and this was their world for a few hours.

"You did well, Bob.", Alya praised him and kissed his cheek, resting her head on his shoulder. He grinned and turned his head to nuzzle her nose before wiggling a little underneath her.  
"I wanna go inside!"

She laughed and got off of him for him to crawl inside and get into the bedroom which they had stuffed out with an extra layer of pillows as a ground.  
"Man, that's really comfy!", he laughed into the light of her phone and she smirked, following him into the tiny room that barely let them both fit in. She closely snuggled up to him and grinned at his warm face next to hers, deciding to pull him down to her to press a loving kiss to his lips. Nino moaned against her and nudged her nose, before parting again and chuckling.

"My, my, Miss Lahiffe.", he mumbled with a grin, "You seem like you're awfully eager to inaugurate our bedroom~…"

She merely snorted at that, poking his nose.

"You're a dork for thinking I'd take your name."

For a moment, as she left to inspect the kitchen, Nino seemed to deflate, then he called after her.

"What, you don't wanna marry me?", she heard his indignant but still mocking tone and giggled, calling back.  
"I do, but you take my man and get me a bigger house!"

Instantly, he followed her, carefully crawling on all four.

"W-Wait you really do wanna marry me when we're older?!", his pubertal voice almost jumped up an octave as he said that and she shrugged with a grin, poking his nose once again.  
"Okay, deal, I take your name and you get me a bigger house."

All he could respond while choking on his saliva was a muffled, hidden under coughs, "… D-Deal."


	12. Day 12: Proposal

Alya Césaire was not easily surprised.

Nino knew that, he always knew. She was a reporter and too smart to be fooled. He knew she had figured out Marinette's secret identity only a year after Ladybug had shown up.

For Adrien it had taken her about two weeks longer but she had figured out that boy's secret as well.

But to upkeep their secret and not to worry them that Hawkmoth would target a knowing civilian, she had kept their secret like her own, never letting them know that she knew exactly well what they were doing when suddenly vanishing during Akuma attacks.

So, he hadn't even tried hiding from her that Marinette had chosen him as Carapace and thus, a temporary helper. Of course, he hadn't told her right away but as he had dropped into her room at midnight, in his suit, she had already been a little suspecting. Even though she had already known to 80% that it had to be him. She wasn't dumb, she had been picked as Rena and Carapace had definitely been too similar to her beloved boyfriend.

A few cues from him and she had thrown her arms around him, excitedly pressing a kiss to his lips and grinning from one ear to the other. She had known from the start and even though careful, she had just needed his nickname for her.

Yes, surprising Alya was not an easy task. He had known that and that's why he naturally had to try and pick the hardest thing to surprise her with. Naturally.

When it had gotten clear they'd stay together after high school, and when they moved together and started university and growing up, Nino realized that he'd just have a single shot at this, otherwise it wouldn't work. He realized he'd have to be so unbelievably subtle and he'd have to plan this for a long time.

He begun with trying to come up with a non-creepy way to explore the waters of the idea of marriage by bribing Marinette to talk to her best friend. They had a girl's evening out and his spy did a god job in directing the talk towards this hot topic while Alya wasn't exactly sober anymore but not so drunk she would say things she didn't mean. Overall, he had just told her to wait two or three beers to make Alya's tongue honest before asking.

At that time, it had been too early. Sure, while marriage would benefit them in a few ways, Alya had not been ready so he as her boyfriend hadn't pushed it. It just gave him more time for planning.

So, he had created a sub account to his bank account to save up money for a ring. He had started looking for locations that meant a lot to both of them, he began on a song for her and he overall just tried keeping it cool between them, not let her notice his nervousness and his outgoing plans to propose to her.

Luckily for him, Adrien and Marinette as well as all their old and new friends supported him with that and even if it had come close to Marinette drinking and spilling everything a few times (a heartfelt kiss from Adrien had sobered her up after that. Or made her completely tipsy, who knew), his plans had stayed a secret from his girlfriend.

A year later he let Marinette test out the waters again, even tried himself, and this time around Alya seemed to be liking the idea more and more. So, his plan was a go.

He set everything in motion and finally got a ring, still acting as usual as he could around her.

And when the day came, he was as relaxed as he could be. He had a ring in his pocket that would surely be replaced with a certain yes from her. He had the perfect location, the zoo in which they had realized their love for each other, and he had made sure it had become a habit for them to visit the zoo in a date just often enough not to seem special but just seldomly enough not to make it too usual, too boring.

The ring was safely tucked away in his jeans, the plaid shirt she loved on him carefully carelessly draped over the slight bulge of the small box. The thick winter jacket hid even more but he had asked her father to open the panther cage for them and heat it up so they wouldn't need their jackets. He hadn't done something special to his hair, hadn't scrubbed his shoes and had just once more than the usual two times, inconspicuously, brushed his teeth before they had been going.

Everything was perfect. He hadn't requested a dress code for her but had subtly implied that she could wear the nice shirt she had just bought a month back.

It was nothing too fancy or too special but just special enough to completely surprise her and not let it happen in a dumpster. Or rushed. No, everything was planned years ahead.

They departed from their flat without a rush, without a reservation waiting for them. Their dates always went that way and somewhere in Paris a table was always free.

Admittedly, Nino had become a little nervous as they hadn't found a place in their usual spots but they had found a cute little Indian restaurant as he had already been sweating a little and he was relieved Alya was so excited about this. They ate well and he remained calm and normal, not talking too little or too much before he paid and they left for a stroll along the Seine on which he planned asking her to go to the zoo.

That's when she first got a little suspicious. Of course, they had already been in the zoo after closing time, partly because her father was still working after visiting hours, partly because she had half grown up in zoos due to her father, so she knew her way around.

He managed to bring it across as a safe idea, though, and presented the keys he had asked her father for. While doing so he carefully covered the key for the panther cage.

They had gotten her father's key a few times by now, not too often, of course, so Alya was unsuspecting once again as they entered the zoo. He had promised her father not to drink, which wasn't uncommon for him, so he had without any problems managed to keep his face and drink his water when she had had a glass of wine.

"You okay?", he asked her when they slowly strolled down the paths, listening to the sleeping animals and huddling themselves deeper into their jackets.

"I'm a little cold.", she smirked but then she squeezed his hand in her pocket. The hand that would hopefully wear a ring at the end of the night, "But I'm good. You did well, Nino."

He grinned and shrugged, kissing her temple.  
"I tried."

Just a moment later they arrived at the panther cage and leant against the railing to look through the glass. Alya's father had reassured him a few times by now that the panther had to be taken out this evening and would have to stay at the vet for the night so they'd have the cage free for themselves.

"Wanna go inside?", at this point, the surprise would set in. He knew the surprise started now, even if he could still keep her in the dark for a little while, "I asked your dad, his panther is at the vet."

She seemed suspicious but the joy soon took her over and she grinned.

"You got the keys?!"

He grinned as he held them up, now revealing the hidden one.

"Just like old times?"

She giggled as he jumped over the railing and unlocked the door, pulling it open in a grunt of effort, before he helped her up and inside the warm, a little damp cage. When he had closed the door again, he took his jacket off and breathed through after switching on the light, smirking.

"How's it feel?"

"As if I'm 14 again!", she exclaimed, laughing.

They jumped around in the cage for a bit, feeling like they were not older than 14, until Nino got the right moment. He waited until Alya vanished in the few tropical plants that grew there and called her at the only visible exit so she wouldn't have another choice. He waited until she came closer, then he got on his knees and got out the small box to rest it on his knee, clutched in his sweating hands.

When she broke out of the plants, she saw him and immediately, her eyes widened.

He had really managed to surprise her.

"Alya-…"  
"Yes.", she interrupted him and shook her head, falling to her knees in front of him and throwing her arms around his neck, "Yes, yes, yes!"

He chuckled, relieved and happy, as he hugged her back.  
"Don't wanna let me say something?", he mocked her but she shook her head, something wet touching his neck.

"Nope. Just give me that ring, I waited for _ages_!"

He stopped and stared at her, now being the surprised one himself.  
"… What."


	13. Day 13: Moving in Together

Alya was almost startled when she woke up next to her boyfriend in an otherwise empty apartment. And when she said empty, she meant it.

It was literally empty. Their furniture hadn't arrived yet and so, only a few boxes had made their way into the empty rooms.

But they hadn't been able to wait.

Nino and Alya both had wanted to move in immediately after renting their new apartment and so, they had merely brought Alya's bed here, built it up again within a day, and had slept here.

She needed a moment to realize where she was and why she was here before rolling over and snuggling to Nino's back, pressing her nose against his bare back and grinning.

He stirred from that, giving a huff and mumbling something, before turning around after she scooted back and taking her in his arms. He was still sleeping, she realized, but suddenly he was hugging her tightly, his body pressed against hers and she realized, there was no place she'd rather be.

He was warm and the bed was soft. The gentle light of a clouded day fell through the windows and she sighed at his scent, deeply burying herself on him.

Nino huffed and kept her closer, his nose tightly pressed against her hair. This was where she could stay forever, she found.

Just a few minutes later, Nino slowly woke up, his arms twitching a little before he brushed over her back and she felt him smile into her hair, his breathing becoming less even and more awake by the second.

She grinned into his chest and kissed his skin, now finally looking up to him and seeing him blinking down to her.

"… Morning, beautiful.", he mumbled in that raspy just-woken-up voice that she loved so much on him. In return, she nudged his nose and hummed, pressing a light kiss to his lips.

"Morning, handsome."

He smiled at her soft affections and nudged her nose back, looking adorable with his mussed up hair that seemed to stick away from his head in spikes, with his golden, unfocused eyes and the light stubble he had discovered to like ever since he had finally grown a proper beard.

Alya nuzzled him and patted his chest, now slowly feeling restless, as if her limps tickled to do something.

"Wanna get up? Get some breakfast?"

Her boyfriend merely groaned in response and turned around to look at his phone that he had kept next to the ground, checking the time.

"Alya, it's 8 in the morning on a Saturday.", he whined and pulled out the last syllable, "What did I do to deserve you."

His girlfriend grinned and crawled up to straddle his hips, propping herself up on his chest like a little kid.  
"C'mon, I wanna do something, let's do something!"

He sighed as he lied his head back but then he faltered and sighed.  
"Fine. I'll get up."

With a cheer she was already on her feet and turned around to him, to see him sitting up and rubbing his eyes. She giggled and walked over to him to press a kiss on top of his head, smirking.

"Aww, don't pretend to be a martyr, Nino. There are worse things than getting up at 8 in the morning."

"Yeah, like getting up at 8 in the morning on a Saturday.", he replied sourly but she heard the mocking tone in his voice, as well as the smirk.

Without paying him any more mind, then, she trudged over to the window, to look outside and immediately be startled. Everything outside was suddenly white. It had snowed overnight, apparently. She squealed in glee, at the first snow of December, and jumped over to the bed to grab Nino's hand and pull him over, to show him the winter wonderland outside. Now, with the second glance, she also noticed it was still snowing.

"Nino! Oh gosh, look! We gotta build a snowman!"

He merely chuckled at that and shook his head, kissing her temple.

"I mean, it probably won't be enough for a big snowman, but we could build a small one on your car and waste the rest on a snowball fight?"

Immediately, Alya was on board and grinning with excitement, her eyes already searching for the rest of her clothes except her panties and shirt that she was wearing, and giggled like her sister did when they got excited.

"Absolutely! Wait, I'm just gonna get my stuff and-"

"Hoooold on a minute there, missy.", Nino laughed and held her back on the seam of the shirt, smirking as she turned around to him, "That's my shirt you're wearing."

She gave him a bright grin and pulled it off before going to search for her clothes, leaving him frozen and holding his shirt, furiously blushing.

"You coming?", she finally called as she already slipped in her jacket and put on her hat, waiting for him to move when he slowly blinked and stared at her.

"Oh come on, Nino. We're not 15 anymore. Are you coming?"

He blinked another time, swallowed, and then finally pulled his shirt over his head.

"S-Sure, yeah, I'm coming."

She smirked at that and he rolled his eyes, grabbing his pants as he came closer to her with a few steps.

"I will _so_ rub some snow into your beautiful face for that.", he mumbled and she laughed.

Within minutes they were outside of their new apartment building and huddled into their warm jackets, trying to withstand the cold after just having gotten up from a very warm bed.

"Okay, new plan, we do the snow things later and first search for a nice place to have breakfast at?", Nino proposed and Alya snuggled to his side, nodding slightly.

"Hell yes. That sounds nice. After all we'll probably need that a lot more while we don't have a functioning kitchen yet."

Her boyfriend smirked and unfortunately for him, did not see the handful of snow coming right for his face, that Alya had just scooped up from a parking car.


	14. Day 14: Secrets

Alya's behavior had changed.

There were just slight, subtle changes, nothing too much, she still seemed like the same old Alya. But Nino had noticed anyway, the way she drew away from him while kissing sometimes, the way she avoided eye contact with some people that she valued a lot.

The way she spoke to people, the way she acted, the way she generally carried herself.

Before, about two weeks before, she had still worn her back straight and her eyes gleeful but Nino had noticed how her shoulders sometimes sagged, he had noticed how her eyes were veiled by a seemingly unnoticeable shadow.

He knew her too well for her to hide something from him.

At first, he let her be. It was her choice to talk to him, her choice if she wanted to tell him if something was wrong.

Maybe something in her family had happened or maybe some message she had received. He knew, after all, that there were some haters of the Ladyblog, for reasons unknown to him.

Nino gave her one week. He waited for one week before dropping hints.

When he hugged her goodbye after school or when he greeted her with a kiss in the morning, he let her know he was there for her. In a hushed whisper or sometimes just a gaze, he let her know that he was there to listen, to support her no matter what.

She seemed to pick the hints up, however she still didn't do anything about it. Or maybe she hadn't understood him, or didn't want him knowing there was something up with her.

He would be fine with that. He would be fine with her not wanting to tell him something.

He himself had a few things he didn't want her to know about him (at least not yet) and he would completely respect her decision if she deemed this information as not shareable.

That was her decision to make, and he wouldn't pry.

Though… He was curious.

And he at least wanted to ask her one time. If she told him that either, nothing was wrong, or that she didn't want to share, he would let it rest.

But asking, that's what he wanted to do.

When a month had passed since he had noticed something being slightly off about her, he grew anxious. She hadn't gotten worse, but she hadn't stopped being just a little different.

He subtly asked Marinette if she had noticed something, over a casual conversation after school, but Marinette, her very best friend, didn't even seem to have noticed anything.

That's what caught him off guard. Were the changes so little that only he had realized something was apparently off?

He still waited. For her to open up to him, maybe, for her to make a first step, but it never came. He let her know more obviously that he was there for her, he stuck by her side during Akuma attacks even if his heart always wanted to hide in his pants when he saw an akumatized victim running rampage in the city.

Nino also made sure to cuddle with her more often, even if she called him dork and pushed him away, but in the end, after bickering a bit, she always leant against him and he knew she enjoyed it. He also made sure to let her know he supported her. When Marinette once again tried talking her out of running right into battle for the blog, he now stood up for her, interlacing their fingers and joking that he'd keep her safe. Well, he didn't want her running in mindlessly either, but at least he had stopped scolding her for that.

Each time he did that he earned a small smile from his girlfriend, and it made his heart swell.

But she stayed different. He tried getting through to her by letting her know subtly and obviously that he was there and open to her. He even shared some of his things that he never told anyone before. That he sometimes stayed up to watch Anime that Adrien had recommended to him, because he actually found a liking in some.

She called him nerd, lovingly, but never shared something from her life.

It began worrying him. He had given her time, had given her space and affection and unconditional love and support. And yet she didn't seem to be reassured.

He still stayed true to his word that he wouldn't pry if she didn't want him to. He really did, he swore that he would let her keep her privacy, he didn't want to be a control freak.

But he wanted to let her know that he knew something was up and he wanted her to decide if she would tell him or not. If she decided that she didn't, it'd be fine with him.

So, one evening when they were at her house, he gently closed the door of her room after a nice dinner with her family and turned to look at her lovingly.

He had made sure that her big sister was home, to give her the security of being able to throw him out if she needed to. He also made sure to ask her in her familiar surroundings, not in his home, so that she could send him away and wouldn't need to go home, still.

He also made sure that her parents were around and that she wouldn't need to feel anxious.

He even asked her if she wanted the door shut, even if he knew that she definitely did because one rule in the Césaire household was that if a door was closed, the person wanted privacy and would get it until the door was opened again. Even the twins kept that rule.

After a short pause he still kept close to the door, to open it immediately if she wished, and buried his hands in his pockets.

"Alya?"

She looked up from her phone, probably texting Marinette, and smiled.

"Yeah?"

Suddenly, he felt like caging her in. So he quickly sat down on her bed, not to be a threat. He hated thinking of himself that way but something was weighing down on her and he had to make sure to give her all the freedom she needed before asking what was up.

"Are you-…", he broke off, swallowed thickly, the words like dust in his throat, "… Are you keeping secrets from me?"

That seemed to make her listen up. With a quick swipe, her phone was on her desk, screen down.

"What?", she asked, her head slightly tilted.

"It's just-… I noticed you acting differently. I mean, maybe nothing's up and I'm just imagining but-… I think, over the past month, something changed?"

With a sigh he kept his gaze down, his shoulders sagged.

"I don't need to know if you don't wanna tell me.", he quickly clarified, "I still love you all the same. Whatever it is. I just want you to know that I'm here for you and I want you to know that you can tell me anything, okay?"

A long silence stretched out in which he fidgeted around with his fingers and looked around, just not to his girlfriend, until a sniffle broke it. In a heartbeat he was up and at her desk, his hands hovering over her hips, unsure if he was allowed to touch her, soothe her, as he saw her chin quivering and her eyes glassy.

"Alya? Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't want to poke too much. You don't need to tell me anything, I'm just here for you, you can cry if you want to or I can go and-"

"What did I do to deserve you?", she finally interrupted him with a choked chuckle, her shoulders shaking before she breathed through, straightening her back and taking his hands to caress them, to reassure him that she was fine.

"… Do you need me to go?", he carefully asked, immediately feeling her fingers tightening around his.

"Please, no…", and finally, with a sigh, she blinked a few times, smiling almost melancholically, "I-… Didn't think anyone would notice, to be honest. I did my best not to show. But I guess-… I'm glad you did…"

With a careful nudge of his nose against her forehead he made her look up to him, their gazes locking.

"Wanna talk?", he softly asked, rubbing the backs of her hands with his thumbs. She smiled and shrugged, tears still glistening in her eyes.

"Well, might as well. I'll have to tell you someday, anyway. So-…", he waited as she collected herself, took in a deep breath, straightened her back and squeezed his hands, and when she talked he tried his best to look the most reassuring he could, "… I think I might be bi."

In an instant, he pulled her into a tight hug and buried his face on her neck, squeezing her tightly.

"Oh gosh I thought something in your family had happened or something happened to you! I thought something really serious was up."

With a light, relieved giggle she melted against him, the joke in her voice evident since she knew how he had meant it. She always knew.

"Oh, and that isn't something serious?"

He nuzzled closer to her neck and shook his head, a light grin playing on his lips.

"It is, but it's nothing life threatening. Most of all, it isn't something negative. I thought it would be something negative."

Alya softly ended the embrace as she fished for his hands again, once again leaning against the desk while he stood close to her, his lips pressed to her forehead.

"… Well, it might be… While I knew I could trust you with this I dunno how my family will react…"

He sighed as he nodded, letting her rest her head against him.

"I know… That's hard. But I know your mom and dad will be fine with it. I'm sure Nora's a lesbian anyway, so she'll be more than fine with it. And the twins are kids, they'll accept it anyway."

He earned a light smack on his upper arm for that and grinned broader.

"Hey, we don't know anything about Nora's sexuality! She's not the type to talk about feelings and stuff.", Alya giggled and he shrugged, "But yeah, I thought that for years. It actually surprised me she had a boyfriend back when I didn't know you guys yet."

Nino grinned and snuggled her closer, pressing kisses along her temple down to her neck.

"… Well I know for sure that Mari won't mind. And Adrien's such a sunshine boy, he can't have anything against that."

Alya played with his hands as she hid her face in his shirt.

"Yeah… I'm just scared about my grandparents… They're pretty… Conservative, you know?"

"They'll have to accept who you are. And if they can't, they'll either learn or they'll miss out on a great part of you.", he replied, knowing that he could do nothing to ease the anxiety, but he knew that his words alone would show her his support, "And I'll love you no matter what."

That once again triggered her sniffles and she let go of his hands to wrap them around him in a tight embrace.

"… I love you, too."

They remained like this for a moment and Nino let her collect her thoughts and put them in order while finding warmth in his chest, before speaking again.

"You know what, I think I knew."

"You did?", the surprise in her voice almost made him laugh.

"I dunno. You seem like the type.", he chuckled, once again kissing the soft skin on her neck, "And besides, now I know for sure that we both like boobs."

This finally made her laugh fully and he didn't think he could grin any broader as she pulled back, lovingly called him a dork, and pressed a kiss to his lips.


	15. Day 15: Reveal

"Nino?"

A voice behind him startled him a little. As he turned around he saw it was Rena, presumably just having snuck out from the police station as well.

The boy in green shrugged lightly, turning back up front.

"What're you doing here?", he asked back, his fingers fidgeting in his lap.

Rena let herself down next to him, her legs over the edge of the building, as she leant against his shoulder.

"Looking after you.", she replied in a quiet voice. Paris laid still beneath them, not a sound to be heard. Today was a special day, "You?"

He sighed as they looked out onto the ocean of lights, reaching over to take her hand in his. She sucked in a sharp breath as she did a wrong movement but she took his hand anyway.

"Thinking, I guess. I couldn't see his face anymore."

Rena nodded as she looked up to him again, reaching up to cup his face and pull it towards her to press a kiss to his cheek.

"I know… Me neither…"

They remained in silence for a bit before Carapace spoke again, rubbing his wrist with the Miraculous with his free hand.

"I would've never thought it would be him.", he admitted, his gaze still staring out into the vast city, feeling uncomfortable in the unusual silence the night brought. Normally this city was thriving with energy and life but right now, it was so silent.

"Poor Adrien…", Alya agreed, rubbing her nose against his shoulder, "How's he gonna deal with that?"

Carapace breathed through, trying to blink away his tears.

"I dunno yet. He has Marinette, though, and Plagg. I'm sure they'll be there for him. And I don't think his father is too much of a loss. It's more of a shock that it had been him."

They fell into the same silence that reigned the city already after their hard fight with Hawkmoth that had taken several days.

For some reason, the silence was both deafening and unfamiliar, as well as comforting.

Even if it was weird to sit here, to not hear a single car on the streets and not a single human out, Carapace found comfort in the knowledge that the city was silent for them.

It was like someone had pressed pause after Rena had grabbed a live TV camera, carried it up the Eiffel Tower and projected Gabriel Agreste's face in a live broadcast on all available screens in the city and the world.

At once the city had been as silent as it remained now. The cars hadn't driven for a few hours anymore but as his face was visible, as his identity, right after Ladybug had forced him on his knees and taken his Miraculous from him, was revealed. That was when the city had fallen silent.

They had taken Hawkmoth, no, Gabriel Agreste, to the police station and to prevent becoming a prime suspect of being an accomplice, Adrien had dropped his transformation right when he had been in the room with Ladybug, his teammates and a dozen of police officers.

Without even hesitating, Marinette had detransformed as well, and taken him into her arms, holding him for a few hours until the interrogations and the reports had started.

After the worst had been done, Carapace had left. Adrien was safe in the arms of his lady and albeit shocked, he had still looked so relieved that his lady had been his princess all along.  
That's when Rena had finally found him, alone on this rooftop.

Finally, after some minutes, something seemed to happen. Noises began resurfacing, people stepped out and the streets finally filled again. Slowly, beneath the superheroes' feet, the whole of Paris seemed to wake up from its shock, and thousands over thousands of people pilgrimaged down towards the city hall. The houses emptied, young and old were on their feet, and whispers filled the air, as if something had happened.

Carapace looked over to Rena in surprise as it took just minutes for Paris to awaken, for hundreds over thousands, everyone, to leave their homes.

He took out his shield and turned on the screen on the inside, clicking around until he reached a news program, apparently an urgent message that played all over again.

It showed Ladybug and Chat Noir, beaten up but proud, standing atop the balcony of the city hall. Ladybug held a microphone and looked over to Chat Noir before breathing in and saying the words everyone had craved to hear for years.

"Hello Paris. Today, a war has ended. A war that's consisted of many fights in which Chat Noir and I and the rest of our teammates risked our lives to protect you. Today, Hawkmoth has been sentences to a lifelong service in prison."

Chat Noir stepped to her, wrapped his arm around her and his voice was thick of emotions as he spoke into the microphone, his words echoing over the empty place.

"We are free.", he announced and Carapace had the feeling, he didn't only mean Paris.

That had seemed to do it.

The broadcast had been sent to all national and international programs, all radio stations and it had been spread over the internet wherever possible.

They were free.

Within only a few minutes, Carapace and Rena were arriving on the balcony of city hall, tightly embracing Ladybug and Chat Noir as the place before them filled up with the citizens of Paris. Queen Bee and a few other helpers joined them from all directions, everyone sharing wordless actions of relief and comfort.

Carapace didn't know who started. But as they looked down to the people, arm in arm, hand in hand, someone started singing. The national anthem.

Slowly, the entire crowd joined in, the singing got louder, and Carapace couldn't help it, he started singing as one of the first with the people.

That night, the silence of the fight was broken. That night, Paris stood as one and sang from the top of its lungs so that the bells of Notre Dame shook.


End file.
